We Made the List! ~ Top Baby Boomer Travel Blogs 2017

February 28, 2020June 2, 2017

We were honored to be named one of the Top Baby Boomer Travel Blogs! Thank you Southwest Discoveries!

Southwest Discoveries

Last year we were thrilled to be on their list for the Top Senior Adventurers. Southwest Discoveries offers unique itineraries, with expert guides for some fabulous tours of the Southwest. If you have a sense of adventure, want to break a little further away from your comfort zone and be enriched and awed by extraordinary places, these trips are designed for you.

Mitch Stevens, founder and lead guide from Southwest Discoveries shares,”In 2016 we decided to separate the wheat from the chaff and give you the absolute cream of the crop in our blog post entitled the Top Travel Blogs For Senior Adventures. In that post, we rounded up 50 Awesome Senior Adventures Travel Blogs that we felt you should be following. These blogs will transport you to fascinating and beautiful places and provide tools, tips, and techniques to help you get the most out of your travel.”

How To Have Fun With Your Adult Kids :: Food, Drink & Music

February 28, 2020May 30, 2017

How to create happy events when your nest is empty ~

Who knew you could have so much fun with your adult kids? At first when the nest was empty I had a difficult time adjusting to the lack of schedule and focus on the kids’ every need. As time went on I learned that I was in charge of my own happiness and had to turn that focus back on to Craig and me.

I realized that although our children are no longer in our day-to-day lives, we could lead successful fulfilling lives, as well as build an equally happy adult relationship with them.

Now that the kids are grown and living on their own, we need to change the way we hang out, but we can still have lots of fun (maybe even more fun).Two times in three weekends we have spent quality time with Nick and his girlfriend Kylie and it worked out perfectly!

Walking Through Japan: Along the Nakasendo Way

February 28, 2020May 26, 2017

Please welcome back Guest Adventurer, Angela Light, my college roommate and dear friend. She and her husband Jon are avid world travelers and the minute I heard about their most recent travel adventure, walking through Japan, I asked her to share it with you! Thank you Angela!

Walking Through Japan ~

Last year my then-59-year-old husband announced, “I don’t want a big party for my 60^th! I just want to go somewhere with you. “ Jon is an avid sushi fan and a lover of the Japanese culture, so Japan it was. We decided on a three-week journey around spring break that would include two weeks in Japan and a “relaxation” week in Hawaii on the way home.

We had hiked with Backroads in Iceland the summer of 2015 and absolutely loved it. Jon wanted to duplicate that kind of experience in Japan. We love resorts, cities, fancy restaurants and hotels, and lots of culture, but we had recently discovered that we also enjoy another kind of adventure.

A Farm to Table Dinner in Big Sur With Outstanding in the Field

February 28, 2020May 22, 2017

“We are Outstanding In The Field: Setting tables at the source of ingredients, serving from farm to table across the country.”

Last year we attended an Outstanding in the Field farm to table dinner on the beach, at the Secret Sea Cove, in Santa Cruz, at the longest dinner table you have ever seen. The sunset unexpectedly turned bright pink as we ate crab and avocado salad, drank buttery Chardonnay and talked with guests from around the world.

What is Outstanding in the Field?

“Since 1999 we have set the long table at rural farms and urban gardens, on mountain tops and in sea caves, on islands and ranches. Occasionally the table is set indoors: a beautiful refurbished barn, a cool greenhouse or a stately museum. Wherever the location, the theme of each dinner is to honor the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table.”

Tales from our trip to Austin + an elegant & (possibly) haunted hotel

February 28, 2020May 18, 2017

Fun times on our trip to Austin ~

Our trip to Austin was filled with several unique, new adventures, not the least of which was a stay in a haunted hotel. What? Some say that The Driskill, which was built in 1886, with an obviously rich and compelling history, may possibly have some uninvited guests!. Read below for more about this…

The Driskill

As you walk in to the grand marble lobby with towering columns and spectacular stained glass dome, you sense that you have somehow stepped back in time. Luxurious and opulent, with a magnificent staircase on one side, you can almost smell the history in the room.

A Life-Changing Trip to Kenya with Global Heart Journeys

February 28, 2020May 15, 2017

A Life-Changing Trip to Kenya ~

While attending the most recent Women in Travel Summit, I was immediately drawn to, as well as fortunate, to spend time with my new friend Linda Higdon. Linda’s personal story opened my eyes to an opportunity that I never knew existed.

Just imagine traveling through East Africa’s cosmopolitan capital city of Nairobi, along the verdant slopes of Mt. Kenya and out to sweeping high deserts where you will personally meet remarkable women shaping change in contemporary Kenya.

Dreams Do Come True, It Can Happen To You!

February 28, 2020May 12, 2017

Really, they do. Dreams do come true. In just a few weeks, I will be traveling to Italy to attend the Tuscan Women Cook culinary program in the Tuscan hill town of Montefollonico. I am so grateful for the invitation from Rhonda and Coleen, the two Southern California entrepreneurs who purchased this unique, established cooking school about one year ago.

Coleen and I connected through an article that I had written and have been fast friends ever since. I plan to share my experience in Italy through video, right here on the blog and through other midlife travel bloggers. So please check here and on Instagram, as well as Facebook for some fun photos and juicy details. For this trip I will be traveling without my empty nester partner Craig, but will try to enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity. (LOL) Are you kidding? I can hardly sleep!

I have loved to cook since I was a young girl and having the opportunity to learn from real Italian nonni (grandmothers in Italian) and cooking their personal recipes is immeasurable.

Our Super Fun Trip to Magnolia Market in Waco

February 28, 2020May 8, 2017

Our trip to Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas ~

Magnolia Market is a dreamy home design “theme park” suited for everyone! This unique destination is a bit of a cultural phenomenon drawing visitors from all over the world. I was prepared to enjoy myself, but pleasantly surprised to absolutely love every detail of this one of a kind spot!

A New Online Travel Magazine for the Over 50 Traveler ~ A Must Read!

May 7, 2017May 2, 2017

A Brand New Online Travel Magazine Adventure!

Two award-winning travel writers, Janice and Irene asked me to be one of the original contributors for their online travel magazine Getting on Travel, which offers a fresh take on luxury for the travelers over fifty. Now this is not to say that everything we write isn’t for just about everyone, but we are focusing on the people whose children are grown and flown from the nest, with more time to spend traveling.

At this time in our lives, our travel requirements have changed a bit and really where can we go to find this type of information? Both Janice and Irene are avid world-wide travelers and knew that this generation has seen a bit of the world. We are looking for fresh ideas and to find new experiences. Most of us would like a little added comfort and luxury when we travel as well.

A Pasadena Showcase House of Design Adventure

February 28, 2020April 27, 2017

This is not a sponsored post. I just wanted to share my enthusiasm for architecture and design as well as promoting a worthy fundraising event. This is a HUGE experience in my town of Pasadena, CA.

Pasadena Showcase House of Design 2017 – This year’s Tudor estate looks especially over the top fantastic.

In the article Behind the Scenes: The making of the Pasadena Showcase House of Design written by Bonnie McCarthy of the Los Angeles Times, she offers a detailed behind the scenes peek inside the project. She shares that it is “recognized as one of the oldest and most successful not-for-profit showcase houses in the country and the showcase will see more than 35,000 visitors. It’s a chance for the public to see what’s on the style radar in the months to come and meet and speak with the designers about their work.”

For many years Mom and I would make the drive from Orange County (about 60 miles) to visit the next masterpiece. Ironically, this year’s design house is literally in my neighborhood! I live on one of the “smaller house” tree-lined streets nearby. 🙂